Police: Woman raped in Rockland

May 29, 2008 4:49:47 PM PDT

Eyewitness News

SLOATSBURG --

Police in Rockland County are investigating the brutal attack of a woman in Sloatsburg. They say the 22-year-old victim was pulled behind a garage where she was raped Wednesday night. Eyewitness News reporter Carolina Leid has the story.

Even though the incident happened just feet away from a Metro North area, police say it is an extremely remote area, especially at 10:30 p.m. Neighbors say they are extremely upset by the whole thing and cannot believe it happened just outside their front doors.

The 22-year-old woman tells police she had just left a local restaurant and was walking along Mill Road when she was grabbed from behind and pull into a garage and raped.

The suspect, a man, then allegedly ran down the secluded street while the victim called police. She was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Management now plans to put up new lighting and fencing to make things safer. This safety, neighbors believed, would never come into question.

"It's not natural here, it's pretty safe, everybody knows everybody," one resident said. "We don't usually every have anything like this happen. I don't know what to think of it."

Police and neighbors want to catch the suspect, but say the description is extremely vague.